Cleomenes, reigning without a colleague, had recalled the exiled Archidamus V, twenty-seventh Spartan king of the Eurypontid line, but Archidamus was assassinated shortly after his return in 227. (The historian Polybius accuses Cleomenes of the murder, but Plutarch is probably right in attributing it to those who had caused the death of Agis and who feared his brother's vengeance.)

Cleomenes completes his reforms by placing his brother, Eucleidas, in charge, making him the first Agiad king on the Eurypontid throne.

The citizens of Mantinea appeal to Cleomenes in 226 BCE to expel the Achaean garrison from the city.

One night, he and his troops creep into the city and remove the Achaean garrison before marching off to …

…nearby Tegea.

From Tegea, the Spartans advance into Achaea, where Cleomenes hopes to force the League to face him in a pitched battle.

Cleomenes advances with his army to …

…Dyme and is met at nearby Hecatobaeum by the entire Achaean army.

The Spartans rout the Achaean phalanx in the battle that follows, killing many of the Achaeans and capturing others.

Following this victory, Cleomenes captures the city of Lasium and presents it to the Elians.

The Achaean League is demoralized by this battle; …

…Aratus declines the generalship, and when both Athens and the Aetolian League turn down their appeals, they sue Cleomenes for peace Initially, Cleomenes makes only minor requests of the Achaean delegates, but as the talks progress, Cleomenes' demands become greater and he eventually insists that leadership of the League be surrendered to him.

In exchange, he will return to the Achaeans the prisoners and strongholds he has seized.

The Achaeans invite Cleomenes to Lerna, where they are holding council.

While marching there, Cleomenes drinks too much water, which causes him to lose his voice and cough up blood—a situation that forces Cleomens to return to Sparta.

Hamilcar, having in the past eight years brought large areas of southern Spain under Carthaginian control, had drowned during a battle in about 229.

His son-in-law Hasdrubal, who succeeds him in the command, has extended the newly acquired empire by skillful diplomacy.

He consolidates it by the re-foundation of Mastia, possessing one of the best harbors in the Western Mediterranean, as Qart Hadasht ("New City"), identically named to Carthage, as the capital of the new province, near to Carthaginian gold and silver mining operations.

The suspicious Romans, preoccupied by wars with Gallic tribes, negotiate a treaty with Hasdrubal in about 226 that fixes the Ebro River as the boundary between the two powers.

Qin has by 221 BCE unified most of the states and occupied some lands south of the Yangtze River.

The conquered territories serve as the foundation of the Qin Dynasty.

Qin Shi Huang had conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BCE, establishing the Qin Dynasty.

Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he orders the destruction of the wall sections that divide his empire along the former state borders.

To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he orders the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new northern frontier.

Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction is difficult, so builders always try to use local resources.

Stones from the mountains are used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth is used for construction in the plains.

There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls.

Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today.

The human cost of the construction is unknown, but it has been estimated by some authors that hundreds of thousands, if not up to a million, workers died building the Qin wall.

Qin armies, following a decade of conquest of neighboring states, now launch assaults to the east, and later the south as well; they take the Wei city of Daliang (now called Kaifeng) in 225 BCE and …

…force Chu to surrender by 223 BCE.